Daimler Tales - 1947 Daimler DB18 Luxury Saloon

This is a discussion on Daimler Tales - 1947 Daimler DB18 Luxury Saloon within Post-War, part of the Vintage Cars & Classics in India category; Originally Posted by KPS
Thanks Doc.
We will start the mechanical restoration in mid-Feb and I look forward to sharing ...

We will start the mechanical restoration in mid-Feb and I look forward to sharing the same on TBHP. I expect the car to be completed in all respects by end 2017.

Mean while, the car remains safely in our garage.
Cheers

KPS

While End of 2017 might be a bit ambitious to get it into a concours shape, provided you have a dedicated team working on only this project. At the same time your goal must be to complete by Mid-2018 so that you are well in time for the Cartier Concours D'Elegance 2019 Good luck with the restorations and look forward to your posts.

While End of 2017 might be a bit ambitious to get it into a concours shape, provided you have a dedicated team working on only this project. At the same time your goal must be to complete by Mid-2018 ......... Good luck with the restorations and look forward to your posts.

Absolutely agree. The idea is the tackle the mechanicals first and explore using the car before we take up rest of the work.

Gorgeous. Daimler always spelled class and breeding, compared to many other marques. Only the really discerning well heeled people of those days could afford one!
Wasn't this called the "Landaulet" style of body design?

When you are blessed with great friends and well-wishers, with confidence, I loaded the car and sent it to Rodrick Restorations for the complete mechanical restoration.

Both Christopher and I are excited about this project. For me it will be the first experience in the specialized mechanical detailing that Chris has to offer. For Chris, he gets to work on a great preservation class car, thereby enabling to extensively documentation of his work. We will of course share the pictures, as the restoration proceeds.

The car will under go testing to gauge the extent of work which may be required. If the compression is good, we will not open up the engine fully. Fact that the water in the engine was removed in 2003, is a major positive.

The car will under go testing to gauge the extent of work which may be required. If the compression is good, we will not open up the engine fully. Fact that the water in the engine was removed in 2003, is a major positive.

All the very best Mr. KPS

Last edited by GTO : 10th April 2017 at 16:05.
Reason: Fixing quote. Henceforth, please avoid one-liners which add no value to the thread

We did both a "Compression Test" and "Leak Down Test" on the engine. Whilst the compression test showed positive readings in all the 6 cylinders, the leak down test showed problems in cylinders 2,3 & 4.

Quote:

A leak-down tester is a measuring instrument used to determine the condition of internal combustion engines by introducing compressed air into the cylinder and measuring the rate at which it leaks out.

Leak-down will not show valve timing and movement problems, or piston movement related sealing problems.

Testing is done on an engine which is not running, and normally with the tested cylinder at top dead center on compression. Pressure is fed into a cylinder via the spark plug hole and the flow, which represents any leakage from the cylinder, is measured.

Leak-down readings of up to 20% are usually acceptable. Leakages over 20% generally indicate internal repairs are required.

As can been in the picture below the Leak Down Tester shows a high leakage of close to 72% (against the maximum of 20%) in cylinder 3. Similar leakage readings were seen in 2 & 4. Cylinders 5 & 6 are in great shape, with cylinder 1 is within acceptable limits.

Guess we will have to open the engine and check it before we plan the next course of action.

The chassis was hand stripped down to bare metal, then was sanded to remove all the traces of rust. This was followed by application of etch primer for bonding and then two coats of grey primer for sealing.

The chassis was hand stripped down to bare metal, then was sanded to remove all the traces of rust. This was followed by application of etch primer for bonding and then two coats of grey primer .
Cheers

KPS

Entire chassis or just the front visible part , is the body off the chassis ?

Entire chassis or just the front visible part , is the body off the chassis ?

The entire chassis has been worked upon. Chris does not remove the body of the chassis and but attends every part of the chassis. It is more difficult than with the body-off, but the trade off is that the body alignments remain intact.

The entire chassis has been worked upon. Chris does not remove the body of the chassis and but attends every part of the chassis. It is more difficult than with the body-off, but the trade off is that the body alignments remain intact.

Cheers

KPS

Very interesting, but how would you tend to the underside of the body, where it meets the chassis, or is the body bolted off and lifted/tilted up slightly ?